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Slideshow
Six of the best restaurants for Burgundy in London
It’s one of the most sought after, yet unattainable pleasures of the fine wine world, given its limited quantity and price, but there are plenty of restaurants in London offering a wide selection of Burgundy to suit all tastes and budgets.
Vineyards in the village of Meursault in Burgundy
We have sifted through our Wine List Confidential database to bring you a selection of restaurants with a stronger selection of Burgundy than others.
Wine List Confidential is a wine list ratings website and mobile app designed to be a transparent, straightforward way to connect wine lovers with the best wine-focused restaurants.
Using a numeric rating system, Wine List Confidential allows wine lovers to quickly compare the wine offer in restaurants, whatever the food or format. Using a simple 100-point scale, Wine List Confidential scores restaurants on the most important aspects of their wine offering – from pricing and service, to the range, size and originality of the selection. These individual ratings are then used to create an overall Wine List Confidential Score for every restaurant reviewed.
The free-to-use resource will initially focus on London’s top restaurant and wine venues, but is set to expand to cover other major cities around the world.
Based on a selection of reviews published last year in our inaugural Wine List Confidential report, the following restaurants are those which show a particular penchant for Burgundy, be it the prestigious houses, smaller growers, or simply a knack for procuring older vintages.
To view the full Wine List Confidential Guide and rankings of over 200 restaurants in London based on the quality of their wine list alone, click here.
Click through for our pick of Wine List Confidential-rated restaurants with a particularly interesting Burgundy offer…
NB. Reviews and wine references are based on 2017 wine lists and may be subject to change.
Andrew Edmunds
Overall WLC ranking: 33
“The setting is a quaint old townhouse beside a shop of the same name specialising in English and French 18th and 19th-century prints and drawings.The atmosphere harks back to the ‘old Soho’ in this busy, bijou, romantic spot. The word ‘gem’ is bandied about all too loosely when it comes to London dining spots, but here we have the very essence of that word.
“Given space constraints, the wine list is surprisingly ample. Start with an £9.50 glass of Pol Roger White Foil Champagne, then fill your boots, perhaps with a bottle of Vincent et Sebastien Chereau Muscadet, which comes in at less than £25, or, if you are feeling particularly gregarious, a well-priced magnum of 2008 Chassagne-Montrachet (V&S Morey) for £140. There is a good range of Sherries and sweeties, too, including Austrian eiswein, Samos Nectar and 1947 ‘Port’ from Crimea.”
46 Lexington Street, W1F 0LP
Le Gavroche
Overall WLC ranking: 52
“Last year, the Michelin-starred Le Gavroche celebrated 50 years in business. Unsurprisingly, the stalwarts of Bordeaux and Burgundy are given major coverage with plenty of properly mature vintages, if you have the luxury of wading into these.
“There are plenty of good value options among the icons on the list, such as vintages of Le Soula Rouge, Pinot Gris from Leon Beyer and Vouvray Sec from Loire growers Catherine and Pierre Breton. The set-lunch deal (if you can get in) offers half a bottle of wine – the most frugal way to enjoy the Le Gavroche experience.”
43 Upper Brook Street, W1K 7QR
Les 110 de Taillevent
Overall WLC ranking: 11
“As one might expect, the modern bistro, located in a former Coutts banking hall – designed Pierre-Yves Rochon, who also helped revamp The Savoy Hotel – pulls strong focus on La Belle France.
“Diners with expense accounts will encounter a grand tour of ready-to-drink Burgundy and Bordeaux, including relative bargains such as 1996 Domaine Leflaive Batard-Montrachet Grand Cru – arguably the best liquid possible to heighten the experience of the epic veal T-bone scented with lemon thyme – and 2004 Haut-Brion, both priced close to retail price.
“More modestly financed civilians may enjoy the lower prices of the considerable listings from the Loire Valley, South West France, and mountainous Jura and Savoie.
“Outside France, the ‘World Wines’ section of the list takes in an impressive catalogue of names from Spain, Italy (where good-value Super Tuscans such as La Massa jostle alongside magnums of Ornellaia), and liquid celebrities from west-coast US, as well as perky and plush offerings from Greece, Cyprus, South America and South Africa.”
16 Cavendish Square, W1G 9DD
Chez Bruce
Overall WLC ranking: 45
“The directors of the restaurant, Bruce Poole and Nigel Platts-Martin, are self-confessed ‘fanatical’ wine lovers (with a weakness for Burgundy and Bordeaux) and take great pride in their cellar – and justly so. Head sommelier/buyer Sara Bachiorri maintains the 700-reference list, which, while covering every classic, Old World base, is on point when it comes to the most interesting winemakers making waves within their respective regions.
“As the owners explain, they have invested heavily in their cellar over the years, enabling them to list many rare wines during their perfect drinking window, and not at excessive prices. With more than 100 examples from
“Burgundy alone, it’s a selection that might require some prior familiarisation, unless you want to bore your fellow diners to death. By- the-glass offerings are boosted by the use of Coravin – treat yourself to 125ml of Hermitage 2000 from Jean-Louis Chave for £30.”
2 Bellevue Road, SW17 7EG
The Greenhouse
Overall WLC ranking: 2
“This supermodel of a collection is curated by sommelier Elvis Ziakos. On it, cool oceans of Chablis include a startlingly large François Raveneau vertical, which would add citrus zip to classically-trained chef Arnaud Bignon’s subtly Asian-influenced, French-rooted dishes, including wild turbot with golden matcha tea and cauliflower.
“Burgundy listings are, overall, eye-poppingly exciting, with older vintages of these and iconic Bordeaux being in plentiful supply. The huge listing of Penfolds Grange dating to 1961 must be one of the largest in existence.
“A list that struts with its chest puffed out and head held high – pretty much peerless.”
27A Hay’s Mews, Mayfair, W1J 5NY
Cabotte
Overall WLC ranking: 49
“Founded by Master Sommeliers Xavier Rousset and Gearoid Devaney, Cabotte is a showcase of the pair’s passion for Burgundy (several of its partners are Burgundian winemakers) and is named after the small huts that winegrowers have within their vineyards.
“True to its unswerving theme, Cabotte’s wine list is made up almost exclusively of Burgundian classics, alongside interesting rarities, and is divided by region and then classification – offering helpful guidance for the uninitiated as well as those well versed in Burgundy. Its 24-page list covers every inch of the region, sweeping from Chablis to the Mâconnaise, offering a good range of vintages – albeit only a handful from the 20th century – from villages to grand cru vineyards.
“On the sparkling side, its Champagne list offers a diverse array of grand marques and grower Champagnes, from Dom Pérignon and Bollinger to A.R Lenoble and De Sousa, along with one English sparkling wine from Gusbourne, a nice touch in an otherwise wholly French list.
“The rest of the world is not totally ignored, with a few pages dedicated to wines from regions in France other than Burgundy, Spain and Italy, with sparse listings from New World producers.
“This is an unashamedly Francophile wine list, with a passion for Burgundy, and it works.”
48 Gresham Street, EC2V 7AY